פורום ארץ הצבי

In contrast to the assertions in the article, the motivation of allconcerned is pretty clear, both from theri past records and from.their current actions

Juergen Moellemann is in no way an Anti-Semite. He is merely acynical, opportunistic and unprincipled politician, who for yearsswitched between various political positions just to gain advantages.for himself. He is not even particularly right-wing

There has been in the remote past a nationalistic tendency in theGerman liberal party (The Free Democrats, or FDP in German), whichhad some anti-Jewish undertones, but this generation of Liberalright-wingers withdrew from the party after 1969, when it opted fora coalition withWilly Brandt's Social Democrats (SPD), and has sincethen died out. Moellemann has no connection whatever with that.generation

He himself advocated recently a liberal coalition with the Social.Democrats - a ''leftish'' position

JMoellemann is chairman of the German-Arab Friendship Society, whichis financed by influential firms, German-Arab chambers of commerceand busienssmen trading with the Arab world, and indirectly bySaudi Arabian oil money. This Society has been the chief lobbyistfor the Arabs in Germany, and has financed - again indirectly - manyof Moellemann's political activities, rather in the way of Barak's.or Bibi's or Sharon's supposed ''charities'' in Israel

Moellemann is merely their mouthpiece in trumpeting the Arabpropaganda in Germany. However, since he has absolutely no sense ofproportion, he overshot the mark with blatant support for suiciedbombings - and earned immediately withering critique, not only from.prominent Jews but also from leaders of his own party

,''Suggestions in the Israeli media that Moellemann is ''a new Haiderthat is, ideologically anti-Jewish, are utterly false.Moellemann is.simply too disinterested in ideology even to think in those terms

However, as part of his opportunistic tactics he arranged theacceptance of the Syrian-born Jamal Karsli in the FDP faction in,the regioanl parliament of the state of North Rhgine-Westphalia.of which he is the chairman

- Karsli is indeed an anti-Semite in the best Arab stylehypocritically claiming he is merely criticising Israeli policytowards the Palestinians, but at the same time constantly using code,words like ''the Zionist lobby'' and expressing the deep-seated-visceral Arab phobia which does not distinguish between Israel and.Jews

Moellemann in his stupidity did not understand that Karsli's kind ofanti-Israelism is too close to anti-Semitism to be part ofrespectable German political debate. He speculated on attracting,through him the votes of naturalized, recently enfranchised Muslimsand thus combining his pro-Arab lobbyism with electoral gains for the.FDP

A huge miscalculation: Not only is the great majority of thos Muslimsactually Turks, suspicious of Arabs and at least partially inclinedto Turkey's secualr republican tradition, but even the slightest hintof anti-Semitism caused this electoral strategy to immediately lose.all respectability and legitimacy among all sections of German societySo Moellemann had to beat a hasty retreat, the FDP hastened to throwKarsli out, and paty chairman Westerwelle, who, as an unprincipledopportunist himself stood aside and waited to see if Moellemann wouldpull this trick, im´mediately rushed to disown him and seek.understanding in Israel

All in all, the entire sordid affair shows that decisive politiciansand opinion-makers in Germany do take care to distinguish betweencritique of Israel and anti-Semitism, and that there still exist astrong reservoir of support for Israel if not for specific Israelipolicies; and, even more important, that these opinion-makers do seethrough the Arab propaganda and understand the anti-Semitic roots of.much of it